BT's sneaky peak rate

BT IS extending peak calling times by two hours - snatching an extra £3.5m a year from unsuspecting customers.

Millions of families face higher phone bills after the company's decision to charge peak daytime rates from 6am, rather than 8am. The premium rate applies until 6pm.

The change will increase the cost of the average early morning landline call by 90%, while calls to a mobile will be 48% higher.

About 1.3m families currently have free off-peak calls until 8am. They will have now have to pay the higher rate from 6am. The decision will earn BT at least £3.5m a year in extra income and, possibly, as much ten times that amount.

It follows a pattern of stealthy rises by BT, which dominates the homes market with about 70% of telephone accounts.

Last year, customers were hit by a range of higher charges, in a scheme expected to earn the company £250m a year. These included doubling the cost of calling the speaking clock.

While BT is keen to promote any reduced tariff changes with press releases and comments from company bosses, it made no formal announcement about the latest change. Instead the details were tucked away in the small print sent to customers in their quarterly bills.

The BT tariff system is so complex that is impossible for most consumers to understand the impact. Fifteen million of BT's 20m residential users are on the Together Option 1 package. They currently pay 5.5p for landline calls lasting up to an hour in the offpeak period, which runs 6pm-8am on weekdays and weekends.

After the change, calls made between 6am and 8am will be charged at the usual daytime rate of 3p a minute, with a minimum charge of 5.5p.

Consequently, the cost of an average three-and-a-half minute call during this period rises from 5.5p to 10.5p.

The 1.3m customers on Together Option 2 currently enjoy free off-peak calls. This free period will now be shortened by two hours, with charges applying from 6am onwards.

BT argued that around 80 per cent of those who occasionally make early morning calls would see bills rise by less than 50p a month and insisted it had reduced other call charges in the past.

However uSwitch.com, which advises consumers on the best value utility firms, dismissed that as a smokescreen.

A uSwitch spokesman said : 'Despite BT's attempts to mask the increase in calling charges by highlighting earlier price reductions, this is effectively a stealth price rise.'